the Christian and Missionary Alliance began as two organizations the Christian Alliance and the evangelical Missionary Alliance both founded by a B Simpson in 1887 ten years later in 1897 these two groups merged together eventually as churches were started and identified with the Alliance a formal denomination emerged independent Baptists today may still sing hymns that a be Simpson wrote for example yesterday today forever Jesus is the same all may change but jesus never glory to his name in 1965 a statement of faith for the group was established and in 1974 the Christian and Missionary Alliance declared themselves to be a denomination of their early history Scott Russell Bertrand has written in the book readings in Alliance history and thought the Alliance was never doctrinally oriented in the sense of beginning with a well-defined set of beliefs the C and MA was not the product of a preacher theologian like Calvin or even an evangelist theologian like John Wesley it was the result of a pastor turned missionary statesman whose arrival in the spotlight was during a period not of polemics but of refreshing ecumenical cooperation in evangelism and world missions Simpson never perceived theological orthodoxy to be a major problem of the church in 19th century America the focus of the Alliance from its earliest days was upon the development of the deeper Christian life and the aggressive execution of the worldwide missionary mandate of the church Simpson saw the church as unable to reach the world for Christ because believers were living shallow defeated lives Simpsons main teaching that is the core of the see and MA today as indicated in their logo is called the fourfold gospel the C&M a website says this about it as we seek to know Jesus personally being one with him he will reveal himself as her Savior Sanctifier healer and coming King Simpson called this theology the fourfold gospel the Christological summary on which the spiritual DNA of the Christian and Missionary Alliance is built due to their nondenominational historical beginning on some areas were independent Baptists fall on one side there is much more of a variety of thought in the Christian and Missionary Alliance however the C and MA is fully evangelical like independent Baptists they believe in the Trinity virgin birth divinity of Christ literal Second Coming a premillennial imminent rapture personhood of the Holy Spirit inerrancy of Scripture the human sin nature Christ's atonement and eternal hell additionally their statement of faith says of salvation salvation has been provided through Jesus Christ for all men and those who repent and believe in him are born again of the Holy Spirit received the gift of eternal life and become the children of God the explanation of this section of the statement in the book a movement for God published by the Christian and Missionary Alliance says the following the death of Christ at Calvary was not limited it is for everyone who will receive it this statement denies a doctrine of limited atonement most independent Baptists are also not Calvinists but some are the vast majority of independent Baptists hold to eternal security that a person cannot lose their salvation there is no set position on this in the Alliance and no clear majority position both independent Baptists and the Christian and Missionary Alliance believe in progressive sanctification that a person grows in holiness after salvation however in the view of the Alliance this takes place in a certain moment or experience on the website of the C and MA in the section referring to Christ as our Sanctifier it is stated according to John 1:29 through 33 Jesus is the one who is taking away the sin of the world and the one who is baptizing with the Holy Spirit these two realities offer the believer to experiences all Christians understand the first but most Christians do not understand or experience the second later on the same page it is asked is this a one-time experience while the initial filling of the Holy Spirit usually comes as an experience subsequent to conversion it is important to understand that sanctification is also a progressive experience it is also important to recognize that we need to be filled again and again because we leak in the Christian and Missionary Alliance statement of faith this is stated it is the will of God that each believer should be filled with the Holy Spirit and be sanctified holy being separated from sin and the world and fully dedicated to the will of God there by receiving powerful holy living and effective service this is both a crisis and a progressive experience wrought in the life of the believer subsequent to conversion the view of sanctification or the filling of the Holy Spirit being focused in a second event which in Methodism is considered the second work of grace or entire sanctification is a reflection of the holiness movements influence on the C&M a most independent Baptists do not hold this view the Methodist Christian perfection view of entire sanctification is taught in only some CN ma churches and it is rejected by independent Baptists one very large emphasis of the C and MA is the deeper life or higher life view exemplified in the writings of C and M a pastor aw Tozer many independent Baptists don't explicitly reject this view but also don't practice it others embrace this or similar views often called Kazik theology some are specifically opposed to it however all C and MA churches hold to this deeper life view of sanctification as part of their acceptance of the fourfold gospel one of the aspects of the CMAs fourfold gospel is their view of Christ as healer healing is an important part of C and M a doctrine today the CMAs book a movement for God explains individual believers the church and its elders are exhorted to pray for the sick when a believer is seriously ill he should call for the elders of the church to anoint him with oil and pray for his healing in the name of the Lord this biblical practice has never been revoked and should be a part of the church's ministry today faith for healing must be based on the clear promises of God's Word not on human experiences the gifts of healing mentioned in first Corinthians 12 verses 9 and 28 are to be exercised in the context of the local church and are ordinarily manifest through the eldership of the church however the CMA rejects faith healers or the belief that simply enough faith will be able to cause any ailment to be healed they have also moved from the more anti medical views of their founder maybe Simpson had said God has nowhere prescribed medical means and we have no right to infer that drugs are ordinarily his means most independent Baptists would still claim that God does still miraculously heal and even does so as a response to prayer but this is generally de-emphasized outside of times of Prayer while the CNM a emphasizes it the independent baptist view doesn't hold healing as an aspect of the church's ministry typically or that it takes place through the eldership of a church anointing with oil is uncommon in independent baptist churches this view of healing comes from the CNM a rejection of the cessation of the miraculous gifts a view held by many independent Baptists this doctrine is answered in a movement for God this way no evidence can be found these gifts were ever revoked or that they were restricted to a certain period of history the popular theory that some gifts were permanent while others were temporary has no basis in Scripture this theory was born out of an attempt to maintain the decline in divine manifestations that came in later centuries of church history based on this position even miraculous gifts such as speaking in tongues are accepted as being legitimate today however most in the CNM a not only rejected the charismatic movement but don't accept the legitimacy of any contemporary accounts of speaking in tongues this non cessationist view is present in some independent baptist churches too rod russell brown president of the Christian and Missionary Alliance of Australia wrote an article titled the Holy Spirit in missions a portion of this that I will read will give a taste of how tongues and miraculous gifts are viewed in the C and M a letter B the gifts of the Holy Spirit there are three major lists of gifts in Romans 12 first Corinthians 12 in Ephesians 4 many of these gifts eg teaching administration etc are straightforward and attracts no controversy however there are other gifts that are considered very controversial some maintain that the so called miraculous gifts tongues prophecy healing miracles etc have died with the age of the Apostles is this true I have to say that I can see no saw evidence biblically for such a position from the point of view of both Scripture and what traditionally the C and MA has believed we maintain that all of the gifts of the Holy Spirit are available today for the edification of the church and for ministry to the unbelievers this includes the more controversial gifts of first Corinthians 12 verses 8 through 10 wisdom knowledge faith healings miracles prophecy distinguishing between spirits tongues and interpretation now I have observed two extremes that are easy to adopt when talking about miraculous manifestations and the gifts of the Spirit number one accept everything this is the person or Church that will accept anything that comes along claiming to be of the Holy Spirit whether it's a false prophecy a demonic miracle or someone barking like a dog or roaring like a lion the tragedy here is that in a desire to see God manifest himself in power this person accepts any so-called gift of the Spirit without discernment how many people have we had to be rebuild in alliance churches from the ruins of false spiritual experiences number two accept nothing this is the person or Church that will accept nothing including that which is genuinely of the Holy Spirit this includes the rejection of a manifestation of God's Spirit that glorifies Jesus Christ in edifies the church the tragedy here is that there is such a fear of being deceived that God dare not show himself in power in church or a ministry situation for you can guarantee he that is God Himself won't be considered to operate decently in an order brothers and sisters there is the genuine supernatural manifestation of God by his Spirit and this manifestation does not have to be manipulated or worked up by emotional trickery I asked our Australian churches this question and let me ask you could it be that some of our churches perhaps need to learn to be a little more open to the manifestation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit now I know full well that I'm on very thin ice in saying these things however it is true that for many of us we have professed accurate doctrine but been afraid or at least unwilling to see this doctrine applied how many Christian people in Australia outside the CMA have remarked to me over the years about the CMA you are the people who believe in the Holy Spirit and his gifts but don't practice them I'm aware of the damage that Pentecostalism and charismatic movement has done in certain areas of the CMA I'm aware of the foolishness that has been exhibited this brothers and sisters is neither reason to ignore scripture on this matter or in our historical roots if our people are going to serve others if they are going to minister using God's gifts mistakes will be made mistakes will be made but we need to grow together and deal carefully with immature believers helping them to grow in correct use of God's gifts if we want things neat and tidy we will never allow space for people to use their spiritual gifts this particularly although certainly not exclusively applies to the gifts of first Corinthians 12 verses 8 through 10 we're independent Baptists and CNM a churches agree on the whole is rejection of the Pentecostal evidence doctrine that is that speaking in tongues is the necessary evidence of someone being baptized with the Holy Ghost as is believed in Assemblies of God churches for example there are certainly doctrines that churches within the CNM a are left with considerable freedom regarding their position for example a CNM a church could hold eternal security leanings or more Arminian ones they could hold pre-tribulation rapture views or post tribulation rapture ones although opposing positions on these issues are present in Independent Baptist churches - most independent Baptist churches hold to a stronger doctrine of separation and as a result churches that hold to eternal security for example will separate and withdraw from churches that do not however for the CNM a so long as the church is part of the denomination they are not fully separate from any other churches that hold opposing practices the C and MA holds to the church as being both local and universal many independent Baptist churches hold to a local only ecclesiology that rejects the universal church concept two-thirds of Independent Baptist churches in the United States use exclusively the King James Version the number of churches who exclusively use the KJV by conviction in the ma is negligible on the ordinances both independent Baptists and the CN ma use this term instead of sacraments both believe in only two baptism and the Lord's Supper both hold two believers baptism only not infant baptism and both hold baptism should be by immersion and that baptism is required for church membership many independent Baptists will require a person to be rebaptised if they were not baptized originally in a church that they view is having proper Authority in many cases only Baptist baptism will be accepted and sometimes not even all Baptist baptisms are accepted re baptism is rare in CN ma churches if a person was baptized by immersion somewhere else in communion independent Baptists view communion as symbolic not holding that Christ is present in the elements in any way the C and ma has no official position but the symbolic view seems to be the most common one CN ma churches practice open communion meaning that any professing believer in Christ can participate in the communion service independent Baptists very some holding close communion meaning those who have like faith and practice to the local church can have communion even if they are not members and some holding close communion meaning the Lord's Supper service is only for members of that local church the Christian and Missionary Alliance view of women in ministry is as follows women may fulfill any function in a local church which the senior pastor and elders may choose to delegate to them consistent with the uniform policy for accredited churches and may properly engage in any kind of ministry except that which involves elder Authority independent Baptists also do not permit women as pastors or elders but many would hold to an even stricter view than the C and ma view prohibiting women from preaching teaching to men or holding other authority positions over men in the church the Christian and Missionary Alliance is a member of the National Association of Evangelicals and has 500,000 attendees in 2000 churches in the United States for more information on Christian denominations view the other videos here on the ready to harvest Channel you